I remember years ago at a Discipleship Camp when we were asked to give one word that came to mind when we think of God. I remember other campers offering words that rightly describe God and His attributes: He is holy, lovely, righteous, wise, sovereign and just. God is and will always be these things, but the quality of our Father that I want to focus on today is the one that I ascribed unto Him all those years ago as a teen at camp: Faithful.
It is important for me to pause and acknowledge that while we use words to aid our finite minds to understand God a little bit more, as humans, our minds can never fully comprehend who God is, and so our words will always fall short because He is without comparison.
What it means to be faithful
The Oxford Dictionary describes the word faithful as “remaining loyal and steadfast”. The word ‘remaining’ in the definition is important and not to be ignored because it dictates that the loyalty and steadfastness displayed does not change. So when we say that God is faithful, we are saying that He is unchangingly loyal in all His ways.
“God is faithful and will forever be faithful at all times.” ― Thokozani Ndinisa
He is dependable
Because God’s faithfulness does not change we can always depend on Him. 2nd Timothy chapter 2, verse 13 says “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” In other words, God’s faithfulness does not depend on our faith in Him or His abilities. Irrespective of what we think, or if we lose faith, He remains faithful because that is who He is and He cannot change His nature.
I am completely grateful that God’s faithfulness does not depend on me!
His Word stands
Because God is faithful, His Word stands. That is, when God makes a promise to us, we can be assured that He will keep it. The Bible tells us that “The LORD is trustworthy in all He promises and faithful in all He does.” (Psalm chapter 145, verse 13).
Numbers chapter 23, verse 19 also tells us that “God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil?”
Many times, God does not work out a situation for us the way we wanted Him to; Sometimes, He does not come through for us according to our timing. And other times, our experiences leave us questioning the faithfulness of God. We don’t always see the bigger picture, so to us it may appear as though God has failed us, abandoned us or that He simply doesn’t care. We not never equate God’s faithfulness to mean that he will answer our prayers on our terms!
During these moments we must remind ourselves that God is faithful, even when we cannot see the end of pain or storm or fathom what He is doing. This is why it is important to know God’s Word for ourselves because we are able to reflect on the Word of God and allow them to encourage us. Throughout the entire Bible we can see God’s faithfulness and we can be encouraged that if He was faithful then, He is still faithful now.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews chapter 13, verse 8)
Whatever you are going through, know that God is faithful– to Himself, to His Word and to His promises. If you feel as though God has failed you, it means that you misunderstood His promise to you or had placed your conditions on His promises or faithfulness. One thing is true: God will always remain faithful. As we go through our various experiences and reflect on His faithfulness, we must accept that if things do not work out the way we want them to, that He has a better plan.
It may not always feel that way, but let us remember that His aim is not to let us feel good (what makes us feel good can change very quickly) but to draw us closer to Himself and shape us in the image of His Son. Trust God! He is dependable. He is faithful!